Former unified light heavyweight champion Andre Ward believes Canelo Alvarez is avoiding a fight with David Benavidez.
Benavidez most recently defeated Caleb Plant last month to successfully defend his WBC interim super middleweight title. After the victory, he demanded a fight with Alvarez.
However, Alvarez will be defending his super middleweight titles against WBO mandatory and the lower-profile John Ryder in a fight many believe is a foregone conclusion.
Should Alvarez win as expected, he will likely face Dmitry Bivol in a rematch later this year which means Benavidez would only get to fight him in 2024 at the earliest.
And as far as Ward is concerned, there's a reason the fight hasn't happened sooner and that's the stylistic matchup the undefeated Benavidez presents, particularly his crazy output.
“It’s a reason why Canelo hasn’t fought him,” Ward told Fight Hype (via Boxing News 24). “Nobody likes fighting a guy that has an output like that, especially when you’re a guy that doesn’t have a lot of output. Canelo is economical with his punches; he relies a lot on power, timing, and skill. He lets guy waste their energy, and then he’ll come on, and he believes his power and accuracy is going to bail him out, and it has for many, many fights.
“So nobody really wants to fight a dude like Benavidez, and you have to add in his height and his reach, and he’s not a scary fighter. He’s looking for the smoke. That’s a lot to contend with. If they fought, I know Canelo is going to come ready, and he’s probably going to be what he needs to be in order for him to compete with Benavidez.”
If a fight does end up being booked in the future, Ward is leaning towards Benavidez over Canelo Alvarez.
““I think you’ve got to lean towards Benavidez,” he added. “I don’t say you got to, but with the output, I would like to see how Canelo deals with that because Benavidez isn’t just throwing to throw. He’s got power on those punches. A good boxer that understands distance and range who has the conditioning and physical strength, as you saw early on with Plant, they can cut that work rate down.
“So Canelo is not just going to stand there. Canelo has got a great boxing mind. He’s going to do his thing, and he’s going to be skillful. Benavidez isn’t going to be able to get those shots off. I don’t want to say that you got to favor Beenavidez. I want to say that’s a great match-up stylistically, and I hope we get a chance to see it.”
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